Pendulum Evolution: Magicians Will Do The Trick

June 21st, 2017

Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V showcased the four Dimensional Dragons, each representing the many unique ways Duelists can use their Extra Decks. Now, in Pendulum Evolution, you can find new Pendulum “Magicians” that channel the power of those Dragons! Each of them comes with an effect that mimics their Dragon, and each can be used as a way to Summon their Dragon to the field.

Each of these “Magicians” has a Pendulum Effect that works with any DARK Spellcaster monster. You can boost your DARK Spellcaster’s ATK, protect it from effects, and more, but with a catch – using the Pendulum Effect of these “Magicians” will destroy your “Magician” in the process. That might be a problem for some cards, but these “Magicians” also each have Monster Effects that will trigger whenever they’re destroyed by battle or card effect, including their own effects! The exception is White Wing Magician, but that one’s special.

The “Magicians”

Let’s look at each “Magician” in depth. Since Fusions were the first Extra Deck monsters, we’ll start with Starving Venom Fusion Dragon’s new counterpart, Purple Poison Magician!

Since Purple Poison Magician is using the power of Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, its effect makes it always count as a “Fusion Dragon” monster too. Also, since Purple Poison Magician is a DARK monster, it can be used as a Fusion Material for Starving Venom itself!

In the Pendulum Zone, Purple Poison has the power to give one of your DARK Spellcasters a 1200 ATK bonus for one battle, mimicking Starving Venom’s power to gain the ATK of an opponent’s monster. If you use this effect, Purple Poison will be destroyed.

If Purple Poison is destroyed by anything – battle, a card effect, even its own ability – you can then target one face-up card on the field and destroy it! Starving Venom has an ability to wipe out all of your opponent’s Special Summoned monsters when it’s destroyed. Purple Poison’s ability isn’t quite so global, but may be even better with its versatility.

By tapping into Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, White Wing Magician is also treated as a “Synchro Dragon” monster. Just like Purple Poison, you can use White Wing to Summon its patron Dragon. In this case, it’s because White Wing Magician is a Tuner! As a Level 4 Pendulum Tuner, it’s a very flexible card. Just remember its effect: If White Wing Magician is used as a Synchro Material after it was Pendulum Summoned, it’ll be banished.

White Wing Magician has not only sampled the power of Clear Wing Synchro Dragon – it’s refined it! Where Clear Wing only worked with Level 5 monsters, White Wing’s effect will negate anything targeting a DARK Spellcaster. The power of Clear Wing Synchro Dragon is a lot to handle though – White Wing Magician must use its effect at the first opportunity, and it’ll be destroyed after.

White Wing is the only one of this new batch of “Magicians” without an effect upon destruction, since Clear Wing also never had one. Or maybe it has to do with White Wing being the only non-DARK out of the group?

Black Fang Magician will always count as an “Xyz Dragon” card, thanks to the power of Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon. You can even use Black Fang with your other “Magicians” to play Dark Rebellion, since they’re Level 4.

Black Fang’s Pendulum Effect cuts the ATK of an opponent’s monster by half for the turn, similar to Dark Rebellion’s effect. Black Fang will be destroyed, triggering its other effect! When destroyed, Black Fang Magician will let you Special Summon any DARK Spellcaster in your Graveyard! This effect actually comes from Dark Rebellion’s powered up form, Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon.

Finally, we come to the Pendulums. Debuting along with the first Pendulum Monsters, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon has always been a popular card. Borrowing that power, we have Double Iris Magician!

Just like the other “Magicians”, Double Iris Magician takes on the form of its Dragon. In this case, it counts as a “Pendulum Dragon” card. You can also use Double Iris to Special Summon Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, since Double Iris has a Pendulum Scale of 8. It’ll play well with Purple Poison or White Wing in the other Pendulum Zone, since they have scales of 1.

You can have one of your DARK Spellcasters deal double the battle damage for a turn, using Double Iris’s Pendulum Effect. That’s exactly like the effect of Odd-Eyes! Pair it with the ATK changes from Purple Poison or Black Fang, and you’ll deal a ton of damage. Double Iris will be destroyed by using this effect, so you can use its second effect. When destroyed, you can add a “Pendulumgraph” card from your Deck to your hand. This is just like the effect of Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon adding a Pendulum Monster to your hand.

“What’s a Pendulumgraph?”

That’s probably what you’re asking right now. They’re a pair of cards designed to play alongside your Spellcasters!

Star Pendulumgraph protects your Spellcasters from opposing spells that target them. Once each turn, if a “Magician” Pendulum Monster is destroyed, you’ll get to add a “Magician” Pendulum Card from your Deck to your hand! Since your new “Magicians” are all being destroyed as part of their own effects, you’ll get a free card out of it each turn.

Time Pendulumgraph keeps your Spellcasters safe from being targeted by your opponent’s traps. Each turn, you can destroy one of your “Magician” Pendulum cards (either in your Monster Zone or Pendulum Zone), and you’ll also destroy an opponent’s card at the same time! If you need to destroy a certain card, or maybe you’ve got “Magicians” to spare (thanks to Star Pendulumgraph!), you can use them to clear opposing cards while still triggering the effects when destroyed. That’s not all: if for any reason Time Pendulumgraph failed to destroy two cards with its effect, you’ll get to send one card on the field directly to the Graveyard! This keeps your opponent from pulling any tricks on the Chain to get rid of one of the targeted cards, and allows you to use Time Pendulumgraph even when the target wouldn’t be destroyed, such as against a Stardust Spark Dragon.

Even More “Magician” Stuff (and Sorcerers)

Here are just a few more options to give your “Magicians” the extra power to win Duels.

While reading about these awesome “Magicians”, you may have been wondering, “Why does it matter if these ‘Magicians’ count as a ‘Fusion Dragon’ or a ‘Pendulum Dragon’? So what?” The answer lies in Astrograph Sorcerer and Chronograph Sorcerer. With their effects, you can Summon Supreme King Z-ARC with ease!

Sky Iris will give you another way to destroy your “Magicians” and trigger their effects, while also keeping your opponent from targeting them while they’re in the Pendulum Zones. You’ll need to use some Odd-Eyes cards for Sky Iris to be useful. Good thing Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon fits so nicely with the Magicians!

One of the best cards available to you, Pendulum Call is an amazing way to consistently get the cards you need at the right time. Not only does it add two “Magicians” to your hand, but it keeps them from being destroyed by card effects while in the Pendulum Zones. Thus, you can use their effects without them self-destructing! Even though it’s usually beneficial for them to be destroyed, sometimes it’s better to hold onto them a bit longer. You can also use Pendulum Call’s protection affect to combo with Time Pendulumgraph. You’ll get to destroy an opponent’s card and send another one to the Graveyard!

There are many other cards you can consider, depending on how you want to build your Deck. Igknight Reload is great for any Pendulum strategy. Duelist Alliance is very strong if you’re using other “Pendulum” named cards. Performapal Skullcrobat Joker is a fantastic choice, and gets even better if you’re playing more Performapal or Odd-Eyes monsters. Your strategy is very flexible.

Pendulum Evolution releases in just a few days! You can pick up the “Magicians”, and many other strong Pendulum cards in this awesome sendoff to the Pendulum era of Dueling. Even though Arc-V is coming to a close, Pendulum Monsters are here to stay!

Make sure to check out all of these awesome cards and more when Pendulum Evolution hits shelves on June 23rd!